Crawled out of the sea
by swisstony
Summary: Howard has a visitor. Vince's POV.


**Obviously this does not belong to be: D**

Things were weird.

Things had always been weird, but it was a weirdness he had always liked. It was a warm comforting weirdness that had always made him feel happy and excited inside.

But the weirdness that now surrounded him didn't make him feel happy or excited it made him feel suspicious and...and what was that word he'd heard other people using it Howard used it all the time what was it...depressed, that was it he felt depressed like all the fun and sunshine had been let out of him.

He wanted to say that it was all her fault that from the moment she'd arrived everything had changed but deep down he knew that wasn't strictly true. If he had to think about it, which he seemed to do a lot these days, thinking about things Howard had always been the one thinking about things he on the other hand had always just been there. His brain wasn't use to all the new extra work, it hurt a lot.

It had been the aftermath that followed Howard's birthday, which had changed things. When he'd woken up the next morning and Howard had gone, he hadn't gone as in left the flat or the shop but he had gone he'd casually gotten up without even a backwards glance...he'd just left him all alone in his bed. He'd waited it wasn't something he was use to, he'd waited for Howard to come back and then it had slowly dawned on him that he wasn't, he wasn't coming back.

He'd burned himself on his hottest you could get Nicky Clarke straighteners, it had shocked him he was supposed to be an expert he gave demos he'd only ever burnt himself once before and he'd even had an excuse then he'd been pissed. It rocked him what had happened not the straighteners the other thing the Howard thing, it had rocked him so much that when he'd been dressing he'd pulled on the first things that had just happened to fall out of his wardrobe at the same time. He hadn't even bothered to check his reflection he'd been to lost in, thinking and worrying.

He'd been frowning.

When he'd eventually gone down into the shop it was empty, but he had heard Howard's voice it sounded like he was desperately trying to placate someone on the telephone. He'd listened, the one-sided conversation had made little sense and it wasn't until later that he'd realised it had been hours Howard had been talking to someone else for hours.

They'd been crying, whoever it had been down the other end of the phone he could tell from the way Howard was acting and the things he was saying.

_'...please don't. Do you want me to come and get you...no...no...'_

And then the phone had been hung up and Howard had emerged. When he'd seen him coming out of the back he'd hidden, he didn't know why. Hiding he watched him he looked different really really sad and worried. He seemed to have aged suddenly, he looked old. And he'd been watching, watching for someone on the outside waiting and worrying.

The cab had pulled up and Howard had almost run out of the shop to meet it. From where he'd been hiding he couldn't see anything at first but then, but then he'd seen her.

She was pretty despite the fact that her face was streaked with a mixture thick black smudged mascara and electric blue eye-shadow. She was a strange mix of trends and current styles she'd been wearing a long vintage fake-fur leopard print coat, skinny electric blue zebra print _Topshop _jeans (the ones he had liked when he'd seen them) and the latest _Versace_ heels. Her hair was long and bleached and she had the reddest lips.

She had not been the kind of girl in a million years that anyone would ever had placed next to Howard Moon she obviously had money and style, but there she had been hanging off the older man her slender white limbs wrapped tightly around his waist. Howard had been holding her back protectively it had made him ache inside to watch it, and then he had kissed her. It hadn't been a proper kiss not the way they had kissed the night before, it had been a simple kiss on the side of her head the kinda kiss a Dad would give a daughter. But he had kissed her and he wasn't her Dad.

She had thrown some eruros at the taxi driver and then they had burst into the shop, she'd been sniffling and Howard had been struggling with the black bin bags that floated along in her wake.

_'Do you...can I get you something?' _Howard had asked her, verbally she didn't respond she'd shaken her head limply instead.

_'I'm sorry that I missed your party last night.' _Howard had bristled at the mention of 'his' party. He'd watched dimly hidden away as this stranger, this strange woman who had invaded their world had reached out and touched Howard she'd taken his hand in her own and she'd squeezed it.

_'Thank you, I love you.'_ She'd whispered all at once smiling through her left over tears bravely.

And then came the words that had forever torn apart the enchanted life of Vince Nior.

_'I...I love you too.'_


End file.
